Sitting here at my desk, I just found out that this week's Sunday Night Movie
on NBC is "The Ghost and the Darkness". Although I've never seen the movie, I
know the story well. It takes place just about 100 years ago in the Tsavo
region of Kenya during a time when the British were building a railroad
through East Africa. Incredibly, two male lions killed and ate 137 (or more)
railroad workers.

As it occurs, I'm attending a meeting this weekend with Bruce Patterson, a
good friend and former student of mine. Bruce is now the MacArthur Curator of
Zoology at the Field Museum in Chicago -- and is the current "owner" of the
remains of the two lions that are the subject of this movie. If you're at all
interested, you can read more about the lions and the current work that's
going on in the Tsavo with this subpopulation of lions at:

     http://www.fmnh.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/default.htm

If you click on the "Research" link, you'll find a picture of Bruce.

Wirt Atmar